Network routers are well understood in the art and ordinarily function to forward messages to and/or from other hosts and routers. A router generally has two or more network interfaces into which connections to a link can be coupled. A link may typically comprise several devices interconnected by a networking hub such as an Ethernet hub. A router receives packets of information on these connections and retransmits them through other network interfaces according to decisions it makes about which packets to retransmit and which interface on which to retransmit those packets. Routers are used to connect networks, such as local area networks and the Internet, to each other.
The IETF's IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is a newly developing network protocol intended, in part, to better accommodate numerous wireless endpoints (one good reference defining IPv6 is the text “IPv6 Clearly Explained” by Pete Loshin© 1999 by Academic Press and published by Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco). Adding routers to an existing IPv6 system presents sometimes challenging logistic requirements. One of these challenges concerns address prefixes (Figures 6.2 on page 98 and 6.3 on page 100 of the Loshin reference noted above provide examples of prefixes for IPv6. In the case of Figure 6.3, the fields to the left of the Interface ID comprise the prefix.). When connecting a new router into such a system context, address prefixes may already exist for some of the links connected to the router's interfaces while other links may not have address prefixes available. Unfortunately, assigning new address prefixes without care can cause routers to operate inefficiently, requiring larger routing tables and consuming more central processing unit cycles to make routing decisions than would be necessary if address prefix assignments were made judiciously. Router operations are generally more efficient when address prefixes are assigned to preserve at least some degree of aggregation with respect to various routes within a given network. Identifying an appropriate address prefix to assign to such a link therefore often requires human intervention. This can detrimentally impact overhead cost and cycle time issues and further introduces an opportunity for human error.
The IPv6 protocol family anticipates some logistics issues in that endpoints are specifically anticipated to be self-configuring. Unfortunately, routers are excluded from these particular provisions (see, for example, section 1 of IETF RFC 2462, “IPv6 Stateless Address Autoconfiguration”). Consequently, the protocol itself offers no particular assistance in this regard. Suggestions have been presented that so-called self-discovering networks could alleviate such concerns, but the applicants are unaware of any applicable and enabled network of this nature.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention.